Dustin Brown Crashes Jeff Carter’s Party – Kings Shutout Hawks 4-0

There was no full moon. It did not matter. Dustin Brown entered beast mode.

He scored two powerplay goals in the first period. He added a short handed goal early in the second and the hats came flying. The goal was scored right in front of my seats, but I wasn’t sitting in them.

I was walking the aisle when I looked up at the TV and saw Brown get a breakaway on the PK. As Dustin slid the puck in between Corey Crawford’s eager thighs, I exploded and ran down the hall of Staples yelling “Hat trick! Hat trick! Brown scored a fucking hat trick!”

Why the change? This was not the same team I saw the last several times I ventured to Staples Center. Tonight was the night Jeff Carter was supposed to come in and kickstart the Kings absentee offense. Was the addition of the wing Brown openly asked Dean Lombardi for two years ago the catalyst for our captain playing like one? Or did his names’ appearance in Bob McKenzie’s twitter feed burn Dustin’s ass the way he burned Chicago’s defense? I say both.

Many will see Brown’s performance as an advantageous and righteous middle finger thrown Lombardi’s way. Each goal an inch further Dustin’s lisping tongue creeps out and wags haughtily in Dean’s face. That’s a fair assessment. The flip side of that is that Lombardi employed Bob Murray tactics, letting his leader’s name appear in trade rumors in order to put the ball in the player’s court to perform or move on. It worked absolute miracles for Ryan Getzlaf and the Ducks this year. Whether by design or happy accident, the potential for disenfranchisement could not have had a better impact on our captain.

Another theory I have is that Carter’s acquisition demanded from Dustin control of his captaincy to be taken. Mike Richards is a known and born leader. But this is Dustin’s team. Losing Jack Johnson, who has played under Brown’s leadership along with Kopitar and Doughty and others for 3 years now, for Carter, who is Richards’ #1 advocate, squarely puts the burden to grab his team by the reins on Brown’s shoulders.

Regardless of the reason, tonight Dustin had the type of game we have seen from him in the past and so desperately needed for the present of this team to be rectified and the future to grow brighter.

He didn’t do it alone. Kopitar drove the net with a force he has seldom displayed since Brooks Orpik sent him through the boards and back to Slovenia in his mind. Jarret Stoll had 3 assists and though they were all on the powerplay with Brown and Williams at his side, his even strength line of Penner-Stoll-Lewis gave the Kings several of the Kings best shifts. Penner was… Dare I say… Strong, physical and effective.

We do have to talk about Carter. He was good. I counted 3, maybe 4 shots from within 3 feet of the inner hash marks. He clearly has that knack for meeting the puck in the slot and better still, knows how to get his shots through encroaching stick checks. He and Richards showcased chemistry, created chances – Mike hit two posts himself – and despite some shifts where Carter’s unfamiliarity with the system came to the forefront, made his time on the ice of positive impact. He did have two crumby giveaways, but he also had 2 clean takeaways.

Finally I just have to say once again that I love Jordan Nolan in the way I love Wayne Simmonds and Kyle Clifford. He is going to be one hell of a quality bottom six player and the exact kind of role player this team hasn’t had.

Did we just witness a statement game? The Kings have had dominating outings this season. Those were all farts in the wind. I want a new scent to pervade. I will smile myself to sleep tonight, but in order to wake up with that same smile I’m going to need to see this same impassioned, confident performance again and again and again.

41 replies

Awesome game tonight. Funny when Willie Mitchell might have been the worst guy out there, at least in the first period. Not that he was bad either, just everyone played great for 2, maybe 2 1/2 periods and then shut the Hawks down for the rest.

For having no time playing with the Kings, I like what I saw from Carter as well. Once he gets acclimated… well I won’t say anything. Dude looks good. He looked bigger than almost everyone out there and he has speed down the wing.

About Dustin Brown, I couldn’t be happier for a guy. Whether or not he is C material or not, I don’t care. That’s not up for me to decide. But he showed why every team covets him and I’m glad he put up that performance in the midst of all the trade rumors. He showed he’s not a bitch and does not cower under adversity. That was a statement game for him. I always rag on him for keeping his head down all the time, thus becoming a one man show, but if you noticed on all three goals he had his head up the whole time. He had his head up most times he had the puck as well.

His first goal was the second time I’ve seen him make a crisp accurate shot top shelf and score this season.
What is with him? If you can do it once you can do it twice, and if you can do it twice, then you might actually be able to prove the pro scouts wrong (who said he had flashes of offensive upside but that went thru periods where it disappeared…. some of the scouts do know their business, but it would be nice to prove them wrong).

I think what Fox said had some truth to it and I was thinking the same thing the other day,
That the deadline had the forwards playing to nervous. They had to feel like since the offense is dead last that anybody could get moved. They’ve been gripping the sticks too hard, afraid to make a mistake. Hopefully as the deadline passes we will get more of what we saw tonight.

… Bullshit. Lombardi wanted to trade him, probably to the Flyers for van Riemsdyk because God knows you can’t have enough fucking Flyers on the damned roster.

Tonight, Brown showed more leadership than anyone else in the organization has all season. It’s sad that I have to see people around the interwebs mentioning Lombardi’s name at all. Fuck every single one of those jackasses in the front office; I’m sick and tired of hearing about them and none of them deserve any success. So the GM made a trade for a forward with actual skill, something that was long overdue. So the team called up Voynov, someone who never should have been sent down in the first place. Good, they’re not complete retards after all. Go the fuck away.

“Penner was… Dare I say… Strong, physical and effective.”

… Penner had a terrific game. Amazing what happens when you actually PLAY a guy. Shocking.

“even strength line of Penner-Stoll-Lewis gave the Kings several of the Kings best shifts.”

… That’s a third line I’d love to hang my hat on, if Lewis can show the hand skills to become any kind of offensive threat at all.

Dutch…. your inner something or other is coming out:
“… Bullshit. Lombardi wanted to trade him, probably to the Flyers for van Riemsdyk because God knows you can’t have enough fucking Flyers on the damned roster.”

Jeff Carter had a good game, and damn does that 77 look good. When I heard he would wear 77, just the size of the numbers, the way the jerseys are, with the size and skill Carter has, he just looks cool in a 77 Kings jersey.

I think he helped everyone he was on the ice with. You can just see the talent, the way he can hold the puck, keep puck possession, hes just very talented and it moves the play in the right direction and helps his linemates.

Thought he would be available for less but Im happy to have him, better than not having him. Again, Dean CANNOT be done, he needs to add more, and also if this leaves the door open for a rival like SJ to get Nash for peanuts, it ruins everything.

Someone on another site said exactly the opposite, that if SJ trades for Nash it will ruin their franchise…. personally I just don’t know. Depends I suppose on who they’d give up to get him. If it’s like Ryan Clowe and some 2nd round draft choice (clearly not possible) then for sure you’d have a point. But I don’t expect that to happen.

And I suppose Howson knows that he’d be —– by the fans if he didn’t get a seriously good return, so I suppose they may even wait till the summer.
I live in ny and the buzz here is while NYR would like to have him, that their chemistry is so good right now (agree w that totally) that it might not be worth the risk.

It is hard to say but as a fan I am much happier seeing a smaller, more measured step then seeing it all placed on a roll of the dice with Nash.

The Pacific is not the division it had been the past two years and like the Kings this is also true for San Jose. It could be they peaked last season and really need a jump start.

But my prediction is Nash goes in the off season…maybe to San Jose but that will depend upon how bad their fail is this year.

Re: Rangers, I visit NYC several times each winter and get a chance to see them up close both at MSG and regional I like the way they are put together. At the moment I wouldn’t change a thing on that team..

Also on Dustin Brown, great game, but nothing’s changed. You dont look to trade him, but if you can get two affordable top-six forwards back for him (1), I would do that. Really, I would be trying very hard to package Brown and Bernier for Nash.

My buddy, eager to harsh my post win euphoria, said “yeah, but they beat a team without Toews.” My response is, about fucking time. All season we have consistently dropped the ball on “gimme games.” Games where going into it, on paper we should have no problem putting it away, and then lose or at least struggled like hell. Columbus, Edmonton, Jersey, Islanders, Winnipeg and the list goes on. Yes we’ve managed to have a few upsets where we knocked down top teams playing their top game, but that is going to happen a few times a season. A strong team needs to consistently strike on weaker animals and leave wearing their skin.

One ass backwards possible benefit of losing Johnson–

Older, more mature athletes recognize when they are being challenged for a spot and raise their level (Brown tonight going off the proposed theory in the article above). Younger players not as much. I wonder if losing Jack and solidifying to Drew that he is the prettiest girl at the dance will loosen him up and give him more confidence. Not a perfect theory, but there might be something tangible in there. we will see.

Chicago is something of a disaster right now, but Toews or not they still have plenty of scoring talent. There’s no excuse with their guys to blow 6 power plays and a 2-1 breakaway and a 2-0 breakaway.

– Did not really see a weak link on our team tonight, really great to see!

– Bob McKenzie, Craig Button, and all you NHL talking heads can shove it up your ass! You don’t know our players or our room.

– Refs must have seen Richards NHL36 show. He called that one fuck ref out and now they are all pissed, like we needed to give them another reason to fuck us over. Mike Murphy and all his minions need to get over the fact that they hate southern California (must be some snow bound hick complex) and STOP trying to take it out on our team! Good thing we put tonights game out of reach of the refs. Thanks again for that ass raping in Glendale.

Hope are boys get on a roll….. Peace to all that love the Kings and sleep well.

This is the link to the nhl36 Richards. If you go to the 20 minute mark there is a play in front of the net where Richards is pulled down. WHen play is stopped , he zips over to the ref and says” What the F are you watchin here. he drags me dow nright to f’n net no?” The ref warns him to get on his feet and get away ” and he got whisted for unsportsmanlike conduct
I think he was still pissed off about Hanzel not getting 2 minutes in the first period for the headshot
Mike has a temper…

Thanks Drew and yes I am a frustrated fan living in PHila for both the Flyers and Kings. My Flyers can’t win unless they score over 4 goals and usually only agsint pretenders not contenders . And the Kings have the opposite problem (or did until Carter). For teh Flyers, it’s not just goaltending (and I was 100% agasint Bryz being signed, saw enough of im in the last 2 playoffs to see he’s mentally weak and cracks under pressure) they also struggle defensively and too many of the forwards are irresponsible with the puck ,esp in the their own zone. And that does not bode well for moving thru a conf. in the playoffs where Boston, NYR and Pens live. They are out in the 1st round. and my Cup hopes with them, yet again. Been waiting since the Hatrick in ’76 campaign (and they would have won that year if Parent was not injured) and the gutsy young team lead by a great capt. Dave Poulin who took the best team ever assemebled to 7 games in Edmonton in 87.
I came to the Kings when Richards got traded and love the team. I read every Kings blog I can find, all the links on the Deep inside the Kings site and videos from FSW and the Kings site.
This team is a lot better qualified than the Flyers to go deep because Goaltending and defense still wins championships. The Kings can and have won low scoring games and against top competition. That’s 80% of it.
With Carter dividing the target that was on Kopi’s back until now and Gagne coming back (per him by the end of the season) they’ll get the 3 goals a game most nights they need to win.

As for the boozing, sexism and swearing…a Catholic girl has to go somewhere for fun right?

Get Stoll, Fraser, King and Quick signed, let Parse walk.
Move Westgarth for a younger enforcer with some skill and a little speed.
Hopefully Gagne can get healthy for next year and get on the line with Carter and Richards.

This guy has talent. Im not saying hes going to be a star or anything, but he has all the, how should I say, “rough outlines” of a quality offense player. Speed, acceleration, size, power in his stride, reach, hands, strength, and probably decent shot velocity because guys that size usually do.

Its really a cheap comparison to make because he wears Malkin’s number, and that’s probably the biggest reason I think of Malkin when I watch him, but he does seem like a very poor man’s Malkin. That’s what he looks like. The combination of powerful stride, speed, his height, his being a lefty, the reach, and good hands, it’s like a poor man’s Malkin. Obviously, where Nolan is good in all these areas, Malkin is superhuman great, which is why Nolan would just be the very poor version. But, I do see that same “outline” of a player, or the same base skillset that he has, its just not to the level of Malkin, obviously.

But what Im saying is, this guy has the outline of a top-six guy, he has some skill. He is the good piece they brought up from Manchester, because he does have some skill, some goal scoring skill. Dwight King? Not at all. This guy is a bigger version of Colin Fraser (ok maybe Im being a bit harsh). Hes a bit more talented than Fraser, but hes basically a poorer man’s version of Clifford at this point. He goes to the net, but so does Nolan, hes big, but so is Nolan, and thats it. He got lucky on one goal where it rebounded right to him, and now hes getting played with Richards and Carter?

Long story short, I agree about Jordan Nolan, I think hes the best forward theyve brought up from the AHL that Ive seen, even having more of an impact or more NHL ready than Loktionov, and I dont understand why Sutter isn’t playing Nolan with Carter and Richards instead of King. Carter and Richards need their other linemate to have some skill that they can work with. I think Nolan would do really well with them and they would do really well with Nolan. Nolan can keep the puck and cycle and make plays for them and work with them much better than King can.

Or put Penner with those guys.

Really, the end point should just be this: I DO NOT WANT DWIGHT KING IN OUR TOP 6, thank you very much. Nolan, Penner, even Brad Richardson, just not King. He is an offense killer because he does not have the offensive skill to maintain possession and keep the play going when you give him the puck.

Why King w/Richards rather then Nolan? Because King appears better at keeping pucks alive along the O back boards and half boards. And, he’s so far been better at kicking those pucks to Richards then has Nolan.

What you said about Nolan is true, through I feel much of Nolan’s cycling could not have happened without Kings board work. King also has net front size but has yet to show a hand for deflections.

Of course this is all based upon a very short sampling.

Right now they are both well suited for future 3rd line work with an eye to potentially filling a spot on the 2nd line. Nolan for his skating, King for his digging.

First before I honor Brown’s play, I do want to highlight Quick for the shut out and expert skills in positioning and catches. Next Kopi was the man to return with his busted mouth and maybe nose.
This was an offensive attack night that was released from hybernation where the D men looked like offensive forwards at times too. DL must have work a deal with Sutter to allow an attacking game.
No question that Brown saved a trade for now. If not he goes out in style with the trick.
But he finally remember that it is shooting and rebounds that needs his time and attention.
Richard and Carter gave us enough to prove they can play and produce and make the opponent worried to defense them.
Still Penner showed he is really not needed. Still slow and out of position and light on puke control.
It was a strong win and shows when they go for offense they can be a threat to win against anyone in the league.
Nolan and King are hussling and showing they want playing time. Give it to them.
15 wins out of 20 games left will get them seed.

Yeah, that rumor to trade Brownie for Luke Schenn and I can’t remember who sounded fantastic.

Watching Hockey Night Live (Rangers postgame) I believe it was Ken Daneyko who was narrating w Al Trautwig and they showed the Leafs-Caps highlights.
Schenn had a giveaway on a goal that was Cliffordesque in it’s beauty.

Agree on the Nolan points. I’ve liked him since his first game up and given he’s got only about 1/2 doz NHL games to his credit, he’s stll learning but is IMO better thatn King as far as IQ and hands.
I’d like to see him on the 2nd line and King on the 3rd. Put Penner and his 4.5 on the first line.
Tough game tomorrow…Carter’s a natural sniper and that will be a key in games , like this one, against top goalies.

Deirdre, I’m responding down here as I didn’t know where the response above would show up. Thanks for your long response. I got the idea now and really appreciate your breakdown on the Flyers and Kings.

I don’t know if you’ve followed any of my comments over time, but the only big issue I have with the Kings is management. I won’t go into huge detail here, but two years ago I was telling a friend of mine (who by the way writes on Deep Inside the Kings…. variable), that the team needed more speed and I felt DL had been extremely negligent in his approach to drafting.

He’s the first Kings GM ever to have a clear point of view (so that gets a big thumbs up for me), but I rather like the sort of Buddhist middle path in life…. not too extreme one way or the other. I can deal with mistakes in the draft up to a point, but the way he was drafting led me to ask the question if he was aware of the fact that you have four essential positions in hockey: goal, d, center And wings, because you wouldn’t know it by the way he drafted.
Philly got the one really good winger he’s drafted in the first four years (SImmer). We’ll see later on about Vey and Toffoli. Excuse me, Nolan was drafted in the 7th round of DL’s fourth year, but you get the drift.

As for Bryz, I too asked myself what the hell Holmgren was doing. I saw some of those playoff games Det vs. Phnx and I wonder why people who have lived and breathed hockey for their entire life don’t see the exact same things that you and I see. I mean, it’s not all that complicated really.

Final thing…… did you say there were four parts to the MR36? I don’t think thats the case. It was a half an hour piece, no?

NHL36 is a half hour, however, if the only one you saw was the one they showed b4 yesterday’s game, it began late, (in progress) and you missed the first maybe 5-7 min.

DL/GM- love yhou use of Buddist mentality . I don’t know him well enough but listening to you and others and trying to read up on Manchester, it would appear he’s short sighted and/’or doesn’t have a good scouting system. That’s one thing the Flyers do have, it’s how they foudn Matt Read and Bobrovsky, for example. They have eyes and ears in places where most teams don’t. The problem is until last year, they traded their high picks away for years for rental players at the trade deadline (I swear we gave up about 22 players for Adam Oates HUGE BUST) The Flyers farm system is bare boned…they need to do better. I can’t get how an intelligent guy, given his job, wouldn’t see you need balance in the system. DL needs to draft big wingers. He has to watch other elite teams and realize that TM’s stifling system doesn’t work. I get the need for good D but it’s time to hybid and modify it.

And Kompton is awful…everytime I see the five guys pre PP or during a timeout huddling at the boards and kompton directing, I get heartburn. I actually trust MR’s IQ more than his for calling/outlining a PP or critical faceoff situation during a close game. I almost wanted to read his mind when they showed him looking at Kompton during the line meeting in the NHL36 ep.
I really hope Gagne comes back, he’s generally a real money player in the playoffs. And he knows Richie and Carter well. Sutter, hoepfully, won’t make the HUGE mistake TM did (waiting 22 games to have Gagne and Richards (5 yrs in Phlly p/t and f/t)_ skate their first shift was a major fail. One game later richards goes down…)will put those 3 on a line. That should work
Great talking to you….

Hey Deirdre…. great talking to you too. It’s almost frustrating when I get info that backs up what I see wrt DL and then comparatively how well the Flyers system of drafting functions
It’s like……. I know I’m not imagining this. Clearly I’m not the only one seeing it, yet the reinforcement only serves to further frustrate (don’t know if that makes sense….. sort of like it would be easier if I could trick myself into believing that I’m imagining this).

Also, absolutely had to respond to your point about Kompon and 36. To being w, the 24/7 Rangers Philly, unfortunately the only one I saw was the very last one done having the actual Classic game as it’s centerpiece.

Deirdre, crickey!! I watched Tortorella run the video portion. I thought immediately ‘this guy get’s it’! He was super thorough and exact as to what he wanted to communicate to each player and also his tone in doing so.
Also some bits w Laviolette impressed me loads as well….. very differently to Torts.
Then I see Kompon. I imagine you’re well familiar with the beating he’s taken on various blogs. But not by me. But then I see this and I’m thinking ‘what the hell is this guy talking about’? Please. Can someone tell me. Oh, watch the puck, see where the pucks going? And they have the close-ups on Richie’s eyes and I’m thinking exactly the same thing you were.

And the Kings have had problems scoring goals? And DL runs the ship? Sorry….. but something is really really amiss there.

Anyway, only because you brought it up I just had to share that with you.
Thanks again btw Deirdre.

King seems more of a board man…a digger. Speed and strength to skate through board checks, get to the net and back up ice on D.

Nolan is trending to being a cycling skater, a role which requires more game time experience to develop the necessary vision, shooting and passing skills to be consistent and successful for this level.